Plainfield High School - Milestone Yearbook (Plainfield, NJ)

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10 THE ORACLE what appeared to be the entrance to a cave. Not an ordinary cave, however, for the arch of the door was of crumbling masonry and closely fitted rock. A dark narrow passage led straight into the side of the mountain on a slight upward slant. There was no sign of recent use, but both believed it to be worth exploring. The weight of the packs was forgotten, strone bruises were unheeded as they hurried along the underground corridor of the ancients. “he excitement of discovery possessed them, hurried them on. Once away from the. entry-way it was necessary to use Ted’s flash. They traveled steadily until the hands of Mason’s radium showed it to be about midnight, when they both stopped suddenly. The cave had widened out into a small square room decorated with carved paneling. This seemed the end of the passage, for at first no means of going further was apparent, but a careful inspection with the pocket flash disclosed the fact that one of the larger panels really acted as a door. This opened smoothly and they stepped out into a small pagoda situated at the top of a low cliff facing a broad valley. The moon, just rising over the hills to the east, shed a wierd gray light thru’ the silver ake whose twisted branches stood out black and enarled. The valley, deep in-the diane of the peaks, which rose majestically on either hand, was shrouded in midst from a®river to the left, blanketing all in a cloak of mystery and silence. | What seemed to pervade the spot that made it so ghostly and quiet and still? “The whole atmosphere seemed to speak of the dead, of aut filling the hearts of the two adventurers with instinctive dread. |. Outlined vaguely against the dark precipice and spanning the river rose a narrow stone bridge. Suddenly out on this bridge a dot of light’ shown, then the form of a man carrying a lantern resolved out of the fog. He was nea upon them, and, not knowing who he was, nor whether their welcome in the valley would be friendly or not they both automatically turned for the door thru’ which they had entered but a moment before. It was gone! Evidently they had walked lightly thru’ a solid wall of stone. “There was no perceptible opening nor sign of crack nor crevice. The shrine offered no concealment and there was no way of egress save by the one which the man with the light traveled. The Chinaman, for his garb showed him to be an Oriental, stopped, lamp upraised, regarding them with a countenance in which fear and surprise were strongly mingled, then with a loud cry, hurling the lamp from him, he whirled and vanished into the mist. DB The rest is better told as Ved related it to the missionary at their next meeting. They had been gone longer than expected and Cole determined to set out in search of them. The two parties luckily met at the forks of the trail where Stone and Mason had left their guides and horses to continue the journey on foot. “Tt clouded over right after that leaving everything in pitch dark and rain. Some water got in the flash light, putting that out of commission, and all our exploring had to be done in the dark. The bridge seemed to have vanished

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THEPsORACLE 9 While staying along the coast, Ted had picked up a small, a very small, smattering of Chinese, but he was unable to understand a word said. An hour later the old man breathed hi s last at the little missionary hospital. “Che men looked wonderingly at his spare figure and tattered garments. | He was dressed as a common coolie, yet, though there was nothing striking about his wrinkled visage, he suggested, coming as he had with the strange letter, a man of another world, one long dead and cloaked in mystery and sorrow. That night Mason deciphered the spiderlike characters. It contained an urgent appeal to the old priest, who had given the casket to Cole, to return to the “Valley” at once, though no reason was disclosed. Carried as it was by a messenger on foot from the west served to strengthen the belief that the secret spot lay somewhere within a few days’ journey toward the setting of the sun. Except for the treasures of the missionary, nothing of value having been brought to light in the village, preparations for an exploring expedition were hastily made. A number of riding and pack horses were secured, and also twa guides who knew the country as far as the foot of the trail leaving to another village farther south. Three days later found the party encamped at the fork of the trail. One of the guides approached the fire, about which the Americans sat, and remarked emphatically in Chinese: “Beyond we should not travel, evil spirits reign in the mountains above us. Few have gone in of either white or yellow yet many flowers have bloomed and died since those few departed and no sign has come of their living. None have ever returned. It is not well.” Mason made no direct answer, but questioned the man closely about the mountain country. It was rough going, the passes were narrow and unfit for horse travel, so he had heard from hunters who had penetrated a short distance into the hills. The Americans, on receiving similar information from the other guide, decided to send back the horses with the Chinamen and proceed alone on foot. ; The next morning, after seeing the pack train safely off for home, with a week’s provisions in their haversacks and armed with light rifles, they set out. It was hard going and rough going, uphill and down dale, fording streams and scaling cliffs, the packs, none too light at the start, weighed tons at night, and camp was pitched early. The two following days were the same, each night, seeking a suitable spot, they flung themselves upon the ground and slept. “There had never been any definite trail, but the boys had kept in sight of the river, which was their guide. They were higher in the mountains, now, and could occasionally catch glimpses of the great plain country they had left. Late in the afternoon of the third day, while stumbling along an accidentally discovered footpath, which wound around the southern side of a small hill sepa- rating them from the river, Ted fell and rolled to the bottom of a washout below. The bank was quite steep, but the boy was not hurt. He picked himself up slowly and began the ascent, when suddenly he shouted, “‘Carl, Carl, come here, quick!’ Mason scrambled hastily down and looked in the direction Ted was pointing.’ Th ere, half hidden in the brush in a concealed angle of the gully was

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THE ORACLE 11 with the man, for all our efforts to find it went to naught, though, I guess, we lost our bearings. We crawled back to the pagoda soaked thru’ and resolved to stand watch the rest of the night. I certainly must have fallen very soundly asleep, for all I remember was Carl, here, kicking me in the ribs and firing over the rail of the pagoda. Then there was a groan and he fell limply to the floor. I had just time to see a shadowy form thru’ the sights of my rifle when they got me. Sandbagged both of us. “When I regained consciousness it was broad daylight. The two of us, Mason and I, were lying on couches at either side of a small room. The walls were hung with silks and the ornate carving on the furniture gave a suggestion of days when workmen worked with greatest care rather than by the hasty modern methods. ‘The house seemingly belonged to a wealthy mandarin or merchant. “We had the liberty of that one room only, for the door of strong solid wood was securely locked and the one window, little more than a peep-hole, was heavily barred. Mason was sleeping, and, remembering the happenings of the night, I decided not to wake him, but did a little exploring on my own hook. My head ached a good deal and my walk was rather unsteady, but I got over this by nightfall. “T had nearly completed my inspection and was about to rouse Mason when the door opened and a man, who appeared to be the owner of the place, entered followed by a servant bearing food. We ate and the servant, at the command of the aged Chinaman, had left with the dishes before he spoke. “You are Americans, I judge,’ he said, speaking English easily and with almost no accent. We replied in the affirmative, and, at his request related our experiences in finding our way there. He grew greatly excited and his worn face became very sad when we told him of the death of the priest that had given Cole the manuscripts and when we told of the death of the messenger. He sank into a gloomy reverie and did not seem to hear a word of our other adven- tures until we came to the fight at the pagonda. Here he interrupted us saying: “ T am very sorry this thing should have happened. My men acted without my orders and did as they thought best. No other white man has ever reached the valley and the way you came will never be used again. I am known to the people of China aa, the priest, of whom you spoke, was my brother.’ “Carl started up with a cry of surprise, but the name was unfamiliar to me. “The Chinaman ignored our interruption and continued. ‘I have given my life to the people of this valley, have brought modern inventions for their use and made them prosperous and happy. ‘They are Christians, for, as you know, I was brought up in England, and have taught them the belief of the whites. I do not attempt to defend my methods, but I accomplished my purpose. The ruins you seek are in this valley further to the south. It is a village once used by the people’s ancestors from the time of the beginning until a few centuries ago when it was destroyed by earthquakes and fire. You will find a road leading east from the ruins of the temple. Follow it and you will come to the village just south of the one you left. Tonight you may go, only beware of my men for they are suspicious of strangers as you can readily imagine and would not permit your escape.’